Extra! Extra!

One in five taxis cited in state inspection

The Arizona Republic's M.B. Pell reports that one out of every five taxis in Arizona failed state inspections in the past year. Inspectors from the Department of Weights and Measures "conducted nearly 1,570 field inspections of cabs, citing 120 taxis and limousines for having improperly sealed, calibrated or installed meters. Among other citations, 126 vehicles had no insurance or too little insurance, and 95 drivers did not have valid driver's licenses, according to field inspection data." Of $196,400 in fines levied since 2004, $97,975 has been collected.

Fugative fundraiser has been hiding in plain sight

Chuck Neubauer and Robin Fields of the Los Angeles Times report that Norman Hsu, a fugitive for over a decade, has been hiding in plain sight as a prominent Democratic fundraiser. Fifteen years ago, Hsu pleaded no contest to charges of grand theft agreeing to serve up to three years in prison. His identity was confirmed this week by his lawyer, who claimed Hsu had no recollection a plea that included prison time. As a top-tier fundraiser, Hsu "is credited with donating nearly $500,000 to national and local party candidates and their political committees in the last three years" and has been a significant contributor to Hillary Clinton's campaign.

Disability coverage fails workers in North Carolina

In North Carolina, access to federal disability insurance eludes those who need it most. Fred Kelly of The Charlotte Observer found bureaucratic snags hold up disability payments. "The disability program is supposed to provide a safety net for workers who become injured or mentally ill, but an Observer investigation found the system is flawed for a large swath of North Carolina because administrative law judges fail to issue enough rulings to keep pace with incoming cases."

Coretta Scott King's FBI files opened

KHOU.com offers the first look at the FBI's files on Coretta Scott King. Mark Greenblatt will report on the nearly 500 pages he received and the King family's reaction to the contents. "KHOU has found that even after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, the FBI's Scott King file shows the Bureau actually intensified their spying and surveillance of the new widow." Greenblatt and executive producer David Raziq pursued the records for more than a year, beginning shortly after Scott King's death in January 2006.

No prosecution for prison guards accused of sexual misconduct

Ruth Teichroeb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on sexual misconduct by employees at the SeaTac Federal Detention Center. "At least 20 sex-related incidents involving correctional staff and inmates have been reported at the prison in the past five years, according to Department of Justice records obtained through public disclosure. The allegations ranged from groping during pat-downs to forced sex. Yet not a single Bureau of Prisons employee at the facility has been prosecuted for sex-related crimes during that period." Federal statistics show that sexual abuse by corrections personnel is the most common complaint issued by inmates nationwide.

Electric co-op to energy conglomerate

Margret Newkirk of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports on Georgia's Cobb EMC, one of the largest electric co-ops in the nation and described as "an aggressively expanding conglomerate." "While most co-ops reimburse that invested money to customers over time, Cobb EMC hasn't returned a nickel of it in more than 30 years: It was sitting on $240 million of ratepayer cash at the end of last year. Meanwhile, Cobb EMC has invested millions of its customers' dollars over the past decade to build a for-profit company called Cobb Energy." By operating the for-profit company as part of the co-op, it is possible to avoid regulation and transparency. In a similar situation in Alabama, members of Pioneer Electric Cooperative took a stand to end the monopoly by ousting incumbent board members.

Prescription pain med use nearly doubles

An investigation by Frank Bass of the Associated Press shows that the use of pain medication has nearly doubled in the U.S. over the past eight years. According to the latest figures from the Drug Enforcement Adminstration, "More than 200,000 pounds of codeine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone and meperidine were purchased at retail stores…enough to give more than 300 milligrams of painkillers to every person in the country." Reasons for the surge have been linked to an aging population, unprecedented marketing by pharmaceutical companies, and changes in the medical communities philosophy on pain management.

Travel regulations don't touch executive branch officials

Ken Dilanian of USA Today reports that many executive branch officials regularly still accept trips from companies and associations which stand to benefit from the agencies' decisions. Although members of Congress cannot accept these sorts of gifts according to the newly passed ethics bill, the restrictions do no apply to other branches of government. "More than 200 trips during the 12-month period [April 2006 to March 2007], however, were paid for by corporations or trade groups that are regulated by, or do business with, the department or agency." While these trips are permissible as long as there is no conflict of interest, records show that the interpretation varies widely.

57 Philadelphia area bridges "deficient"

Paul Nussbaum and Dylan Purcell of The Philadelphia Inquirer report that nearly 60 bridges in the Philadelphia area are rated structurally "deficient" with traffic on those bridges ranging from 25,000 to 160,000 vehicles daily. Six thousand bridges are rated "deficient" in Pennsylvania, the greatest number in the nation. Included in their report is an interactive map of bridges in the Philadelphia area with details about each.

A look at Utah's mine safety records

Following the Crandall Canyon Mine disaster, Lee Davidson of the Deseret Morning News did a couple of quick-hit stories on mine safety in Utah. The stories detail repeated safety violations in Utah mines and those violations specific to the Crandall Canyon Mine, which were fewer than average for Utah mines.

Police department plagued by internal discipline problems

Top city officials in Denver are calling for a complete overhaul of the discipline system of the Denver Police Department, reports Christopher N. Osher of The Denver Post. "At least 25 officers remained on the force from January 1997 through September 2006 after they were punished for what the department calls "departure from the truth." In some other police departments, such a complaint, if sustained, can lead to immediate dismissal because it can be used by defense lawyers in criminal cases to challenge an officer's court testimony."

Critics seek to close tax loophole

Palm Beach Post reporter Jeff Ostrowski reports that "trophy properties" in Florida are changing hands, legally, for $10 and costing the state millions in tax revenue. Commercial property deals are being recorded as "transfers of assets" instead of actual sales. In the case of a $600 million property, 70 cents in taxes were collected as opposed to the $4.2 million which would have been generated by a proper sale. "In a unanimous ruling in 2005, the Florida Supreme Court called the practice of avoiding documentary stamp taxes legitimate, so long as the deals meet a few legal tests. But with state and municipal governments facing a budget squeeze, critics say lawmakers should close the loophole."

Chavez family's fundraising scrutinized

Linda Chavez, Bush's failed nominee for Labor Secretary, and members of her immediate family control political action committees and non-profit political foundations with names like the Republican Issues Committee, the Latino Alliance, Stop Union Political Abuse and the Pro-Life Campaign Committee, which quietly raised more than $24.5 million from January 2003 to December 2006. Matthew Mosk of The Washington Post reports that, as little as one percent of the PAC money was passed on to politicians or independent political activity. Most of the money, solicited from small donors via telemarketing and direct mail campaigns, went to fundraising costs; the organizations also paid overhead expenses and salaries for Chavez family members.

Wis. dam inspections fall behind schedule

Ben Poston and Patrick Marley of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzed a database of state dam inspections and found that Wisconsin inspectors have failed to inspect dozens of dams that could pose a danger in the event of a break. In all, the state Department of Natural Resources has not inspected at least 230 state-regulated dams — including 67 that are considered a "high or significant hazard" — since August 1997, despite a state law that requires inspections at least once every 10 years. The reporters also posted a searchable database of the state-regulated dams on the newspaper's Data on Demand site.

Justice Department knew of abuses in Texas juvenile prisons

In an ongoing Dallas Morning News investigation, Holly Becka and Jennifer LaFleur found that the private contractors housing juvenile inmates in Texas have lost their contracts in other states after abuse and neglect were discovered. In addition, Steve McGonigle and Doug J. Swanson report that records show U.S Justice Department attorneys have been aware of the horror stories within the Texas juvenile prisons for four years, but they declined to act, citing lack of evidence.

Wis. trucking firm fined twice for false logbooks

Rick Romell of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzed federal records and reviewed hundreds of pages of documents to find that JDC Logistics Inc., a Franklin, Wis., firm has been among the most heavily fined trucking companies in the country. Logbook falsification by truckers at the 589-driver firm was so widespread, federal auditors discovered last August, that the company was slapped with a $92,000 fine. That followed a $63,000 fine in 2004 for many of the same problems.

Ohio bridges at risk

The Columbus Dispatch examined each of the 35 bridges over the Ohio River connecting Ohio to neighboring Kentucky and West Virginia. Reporter Randy Ludlow discovered that seven are rated as structurally deficient. That group includes three of the four bridges owned by the Ohio Department of Transportation. The investigation revealed that highway officials have plans to close one bridge when the temperature drops to 5 below zero. The steel of the old bridge becomes so brittle in bitter cold that engineers fear it could fracture, raising the possibility of the span toppling.

Santa Ana block hit hard by subprime lending

John Gittelsohn and Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register looked at one street in Santa Ana, Calif. to see the impact of subprime lending in the community. Seventeen homeowners on this quiet block took out 83 mortgages, most of them subprime, during a six-year frenzy of deal-making. Easy credit helped triple home prices from 2000 to 2006. But with the money spigot shut off homeowners now are in a bind. Two homes have been foreclosed in the past year, two more are in default and several are for sale. One home recently sold at a loss, and two more are for sale at prices that would guarantee a loss.

Undue Influence

Eric Nalder and Lewis Kamb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer found "cops confronted with a drunken-driving arrest fare better than the average citizen," according to an investigation of seven years' worth of internal discipline records, arrest reports, accident reports, license-suspension files and court documents from around Washington state. The P-I's findings also determined Washington's police disciplinary system is "broken, illogical and unevenly applied."

Baltimore aims to avoid bridge disaster, repairs started

Following the collapse of a bridge in Minneapolis, Tisha Thompson of WMAR-TV (Baltimore, Md.) evaluated federal inspection reports and found that over 300 bridges in Maryland are "structurally deficient" some with holes in the deck and, in one case, two-by-fours holding up a section of a major bridge. In Baltimore County, the replacement process has started on about 10 bridges. This map shows the bridges eligible for replacement in the greater Baltimore area.

A look at Arizona's "structurally deficient" bridges

Lisa Fletcher and Dan Siegel of ABC-15's I-Team look at the safety ratings of bridges in Arizona. In the state, 107 bridges are rated as "structurally deficient and in need of major repairs." Along with ASU civil engineering professor, Ed Kavazanjian, they looked at several of the bridges, analyzing what could hasten structural demise of some of the compromised bridges. Information on the bridges, listed by county, can be found here.

City liability databases offer up wide range of stories

After a quick-hit investigation in to liability payouts for sewer damages, Marc Davis of The Virginian-Pilot continues to find stories within city liability databases. For instance, accidents involving city vehicles cost taxpayers millions. "The cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach paid about $7.5 million to more than 1,700 victims of vehicular accidents in 2004, 2005 and 2006, according to a Virginian-Pilot analysis." Yet sovereign immunity protects these cities in other cases. Often, it is nearly impossible to get reimbursed for accidents caused by a city employee's negligence, especially if they happen at school.

Contributions call school board president's ethics into question

James Pressley, school board president in Pleasantville, N.J., sought money from community businesses who were seeking contracts from the school board. John Froojian, of the Press of Atlantic City, reports that money was solicited for the James A. Pressley Scholarship and Community Youth Build Foundation, although neither the IRS nor the New Jersey Consumer Affairs Division have record of the registration of such a charity. Of nine businesses approached by Pressley, eight had no-bid contract proposals before the school board.

Marine vehicle contract questioned

An investigation by WXYZ-TV in Detroit reveals that the Marines awarded a vehicle contract for the Growler, a vehicle which consistently failed to meet the Marines' own standards according to internal evaluations, despite the fact that a superior vehicle designed by Detroit engineers was available. The Growler was originally designed without doors or a roof and has been described by some within the military as a “dune buggy with a machine gun.” The company that produces the Growler is owned by a retired Marine colonel who is alleged to have received the nearly $1 billion contract because of a longtime friendship with a powerful Marine Corps major general. As a result of the investigation, Sen. Carl Levin and two members of the House of Representatives called for an investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Trashing the Truth

A four-part Denver Post investigation found that the loss and destruction of DNA evidence nationwide has stalled the pursuit of justice in thousands of cases, including undermining efforts of prisoners to prove their innocence. In the absence of governmental statistics, reporters Miles Moffeit and Susan Green compiled data and cases from lawyers and government records across the country to tell the personal stories behind the loss of tiny truth-bearing biological specimens. Included in the package are a series of investigative web documentaries that accompany each segment.

Bridge data adds context to collapse

Following the collapse of an I-35 bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, journalists turned to the National Bridge Inventory database, available from IRE and NICAR, to check the bridge's inspection history. The Saint Paul Pioneer Press. and The Star Tribune reported that inspection data from 2005 showed that the Minnesota Department of Transportation deemed the bridge "structurally deficient." The Pioneer Press also noted a federal report's finding that Minnesota ranked high in overall bridge safety with 3 percent of its bridges rated deficient in 2006.

Insider deals boost Milwaukee County pensions

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation found that hundreds of Milwaukee County workers, including some high profile officials, boosted their pensions by $50 million by sidestepping county pension rules and IRS tax codes. Reporter Dave Umhoefer traced the self-dealing and cronyism that launched the breaks, which allow workers to pay to convert ineligible work service from summer seasonal jobs into lucrative retirement credits. Many can expect five- and six-figure pension gains over their lifetimes for comparatively modest payments for the credits.